WASHINGTON President Obama met with Mayor Bloomberg and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger yesterday to discuss spending stimulus money on infrastructure needs as the White House released new guidelines to make sure the money is spent wisely.

“This plan cannot and will not be an excuse for waste and abuse,” Obama said.

He told a gathering of state legislators from around the country that the new rules on stimulus spending “will help ensure that we are proving ourselves worthy of the great trust the American people have placed in us.”

The $787 billion economic stimulus package will not, he said, turn into “favors for lobbyists.”

To that end, Obama said all requests to lobby his administration will be posted on the Internet, along with written explanations for how the lobbyists propose spending the money.

Details of meetings between administration officials and all lobbyists will be recorded and made public.

Still, Obama told the National Conference of State Legislatures, he is certain there will be some waste.

In a later meeting at the White House with Bloomberg and Schwarzeneggar and Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, Obama asked for ideas on how to spend all the money.

Calling them “three of the most innovative elected officials in the country,” Obama said he is “confident that with all these bright minds sitting around the table” they will be able to get the economy cranking again.

Bloomberg called the meeting “very encouraging.”

“The president gets it,” he said. “This is about the future of our country. whether it’s transportation or water or all of the other things that we need to invest in now so that our children and grandchildren will have a future.”